A leader of the Boko Haram sect, Muhammad Marwan, has said that if the Federal Government would not blackmail or deceive them as was done in the past, they will be ready to avail themselves for dialogue as was initiated by the Northern Elders Forum. Marwan spoke in an interview with the Hausa Service of the Voice of America (VOA) monitored in Kaduna on Tuesday, adding that he was speaking on behalf of members of Jamatul Ahlus Sunnati lil Daawati wal Jihad, otherwise known as Boko Haram, on the call by Northern Elders Forum for amnesty for the sect members. “We thank Allah, we will extend our hands for
dialogue to the northern elders just as was done
before under my leadership. But if they come
there shouldn’t be any deceit in it as was
experienced in the past,” he said. Marwan, who said they were yet to be
contacted on the issue of amnesty, however
agreed that dialogue was the most important
thing in settling matters between aggrieved
parties and hoped that a genuine and sincere
discussion would eventually lead to amicable resolution of the dispute. His words: My hope is this, everyday, it is the
government that is seeking for this ,on matters
pertaining to everyday life, we thank Allah our
hope is that there shouldn’t be any deceit, let
them come for it. This dialogue is the most
important, it is what people want, anytime the issue of dialogue comes in, it is what people are
looking for to settle matters between two
warring factions. “Nobody contacted us on this amnesty and we
did not contact anybody also. What I’m saying
now, truly you are talking with Muhammad
Marwan and those that sat with me in the past,
will definitely know that you are talking to
Muhammad Marwan. I hope if they come through the right channel just as they came to us
in the past, Allah willing, they will achieve the
desired result. I am assuring the Muslim
community particularly in the North, the desired
result will be achieved but they should pray so
that there will not be any blackmail and deceit on the government’s part as was experienced in
the past. This should be their prayers,” he said. Similarly, an analyst on Boko Haram issues
currently in Washington DC for a course, Hamza
Idris also spoke with the VOA Hausa Service on
the proposed amnesty for the Boko Haram
members, saying it’s a good intention but urged
that there were certain matters that have to be looked at critically. “For example it’s a person who believes he has
offended that you can now tell that he has been
forgiven. That’s my believe in the years that I’ve
been writing on the Boko Haram. This is because
the sect members still believe they have been
offended, that the Federal Government offended them and therefore, if it comes to forgiving, it is
they , if they wanted, that will forgive the federal
government and not the government to forgive
them. “ “Their thinking is what have they done? Like all
these security breaches, in their opinion they
feel it is like a revenge on what was done to
them in 2009. The killing of their leader,
destroying their mosque and dispersing the sect
members. The government said that all their activities are not recognized by law. “So when they decided to retaliate, they said
they don’t even believe there is anything like
government or leadership in the whole of
Nigeria. So if you are granting amnesty to
someone who doesn’t even recognize your
existence, then there is a missing link. They don’t even believe in the existence of the Federal
Government so it is something ambiguous to say
you are granting them amnesty.
“But in my understanding, there are certain
things that should be done. If you look at the
past few months, their leader, Abubakar Shekau and those talking for the group have been
explaining certain things ,if these things will be
carefully looked at, if honest people will be
engaged, religious leaders and so on, if people
that will not bring the issues of politics will be
involved, it will not be a surprise to achieve success. “First and foremost, the kind of ideology they
adopted is independent,on what pertains to
religion. If you look at the constitution ,it gives
people the freedom of worship. But when they
were dispersed, they were denied the freedom
to practice their kind of religion. When their mosque was destroyed, anybody who comes
out and professed their kind of religion will be
dealt with, security agents will arrest him and
say the federal government is not in support of
that religious creed.So it is therefore necessary to
sit down with them and discuss these issues toward resolving them. “Secondly, many of the sect members have been
arrested and detained in prisons, military, police
and other security camps like that of the SSS.
They explained that it will not be possible to sit
down with you for dialogue when everyday,
your members are being arrested and detained. “They also talked about their little children,
wives that are detained and they believe in the
whole world, nowhere is a war fought and
children with their mothers are arrest and taken
to unknown destinations. These are important
issues that should be put on table to deliberate and find the solution. “Also, this talk of nobody knows them, they are
ghosts etc, it is an important problem that should
be resolved. For example, the President had said
he won’t grant amnesty to ghosts, and now he
agreed to grant the amnesty to ghosts. This is
difficult problem, in my opinion that statement should be changed, it should be now there are
some sect members in detention and we are
going to start discussing with them. If the talks
are genuine and sincere, perhaps it won’t be
difficult to achieve result. “Many of them are detained, some in Abuja,
some in Maiduguri, many were taken to other
towns in the South. If you are talking of the
youth, they are countless. If for example there
was a raid in Maiduguri,40 to 50 youths will be
arrested at a time .Weapons will be displayed that they belonged to the youths. So if such
things are happening, the idea that no one
knows them does not even arise. If you will
arrest 40 and claim to have discovered certain
weapons from them, them the idea of saying
you don’t know them shouldn’t arise,” he said.
Source: Nigerian Tribune

Which one be truth and who is to give other amnesty. Yeye people with thier fowl brain.

I can't see any terms they stated from the article.

Ngwakwe: I can't see any terms they stated from the article.

fake bh